Fisheries Local Action Group Local Development Strategy 2016 This an edited version of the full FLAG South West Local Development Strategy produced to inform potential project applicants of the themes and priorities contained therein. The full text of all FLAG strategies and their appendices may be found on www.bim.ie. E & O E. The development of this Local Development Strategy by FLAG South West was facilitated through the provision of preparatory support as part of Ireland’s European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Operational Programme 2014-2020, co-funded by the Exchequer and European Union. This Strategy was 100% funded under that Programme. This Strategy covers the period of the Programme and is intended to guide FLAG South West in prioritising, selecting and supporting projects with EMFF funds in its FLAG territory. Table of Contents 1 THE DEFINITION OF THE STRATEGY AREA 2 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 Description of the FLAG Area 2 1.3 Confirmation of Compliance of FLAG Area 4 1.4 Coherent Sub-Areas 4 2 ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS 5 2.1 Introduction 5 2.2 Summary of Socio-Economic Review 5 2.3 Summary – Infographic 7 2.4 Overview of the Consultation Process 9 2.5 Feedback from Consultation 10 2.6 Summary 19 3 STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVES 20 3.1 Introduction 20 3.2 Consistency with the Overarching Strategy set out in the Operational Programme 20 3.3 Level of Change Required 20 3.4 Prioritisation of Identified Areas of Activity 20 3.5 Intervention Logic of the FLAG South West Strategy 22 4 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRATEGY 32 4.1 Introduction 32 4.2 Overview of Public Consultation Events 32 4.3 Categories of Stakeholders 33 5 ACTION PLAN 34 5.1 Introduction 34 6 FINANCIAL PLAN 37 6.1 Total budget 37 6.2 Rationale for Spend 37 6.3 Allocation of total budget between Project and Administration Spend 37 6.4 Project Spend by Theme, Objective and Year 38 6.5 Administration Spend 40 6.6 Mobilisation of Other Resources 41 7 THE FISHERIES LOCAL ACTION GROUP 43 7.1 Organisation Details 43 7.2 FLAG Composition and Decision Making 43 1 The Definition of the Strategy Area 1.1 Introduction This section describes the FLAG area and sets out confirmation that the FLAG area meets the criteria set out in the European Maritime Fisheries Fund 2014 – 2020 (Section 5.1.2). 1.2 Description of the FLAG Area The FLAG South West area comprises the coastal zones of County Kerry and County Limerick. In order to provide a snapshot of the nature of this area the 85 District Electoral Divisions have been used to provide aggregate statistics. The area of operation will typically be the 10 km coastal strip however should projects further inland positively impact the coastal strip they will be considered on a case by case basis. The FLAG region has a relatively weak urban structure with just 10 settlements falling into the aggregate urban area category of over 1,500 inhabitants, however, there are many smaller settlements in the region. County Kerry is one of the most sparsely populated counties in Ireland with the most rural and peripheral areas in the county experiencing declining populations over the last 20 years. The coastal regions of Kerry have experienced a contraction in populations. The scale and distribution of fishing and aquaculture dependent businesses along the coast of Kerry and along the Shannon estuary has led to the area being chosen. The fishery and aquaculture activity that authenticates that dependence is described in detail below. The area also coincides with local governance and development infrastructure, allowing greater synergies to be achieved without creating structures too unwieldy to function at the scale appropriate for the communities of fisheries and aquaculture dependent areas. According to the national fleet register in May 2016 the fleet in this area represents approximately 258 vessels included in the polyvalent general, specific, aquaculture and potting sectors. Only twelve of these vessels are over 18m, three of which are aquaculture vessels. There are a further forty vessels, between 12 and 18 meters, while 222 or 86% of vessels are under 12m showing the dependence of Kerry’s coastal communities on inshore fishing. The majority of the inshore vessels are distributed across the smaller harbours and piers in the region prosecuting a variety of fish and shellfish species by a range of gear types as described later. Living in coastal areas requires a high degree of adaptability to survive economically, therefore even a part time job may “keep the lights on” in a small coastal community as it allows individuals to be survive the inherent cash flow problems that those, dependent on maritime resources/ primary production, experience. An estimate of employment from the fishing sector not including aquaculture in Kerry is 207 jobs. The BIM Annual Aquaculture Survey published in 2016 puts employment from aquaculture at 361 which is circa 20% of the national employment figure for aquaculture which is significant both at local and national level. There are 40 production units across native oysters Gigas oyster, Rope Mussel and Seabed mussel, salmon, scallop and seaweed with a total volume of 3,694 tonnes and a value of €5.6 million. There are an estimated 16 processing companies in Kerry though clearly much of the raw product is sold before any form of processing occurs. Nonetheless the processing industry counts for 310 jobs. There is no account of ancillary jobs in boat building (3 in the region), Gear supply and construction, engineering, maintenance and transport services. The proposed FLAG SW region is home to areas of local and international significance in terms of biodiversity. Within county Kerry and that of county Limerick’s Shannon Estuary there are 23 Special Areas of Conservation (within the FLAG region) and 10 Special Protection Areas (within the FLAG region). Kerry also has eight Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs) designated to protect ecologically important habitats and a collection of 6 Nature Reserves allocated the purpose of conservation. Within the FLAG South West area, the marine NHAs include the Skelligs. All leisure and commercial activities proceed, or not, based on protection afforded by these designations. 2 | FLAG SOUTH WEST FISHERIES LOCAL ACTION GROUP The FLAG SW region has 3 very large ports with diverse economic activities; Dingle Fishery Harbour Centre, Fenit Harbour and Foynes. Furthermore, the Shannon Foynes Port Company operates Ireland’s second largest port facility in the Shannon estuary. Three of its six terminals fall within the FLAG area, at Tarbert in Kerry and at Foynes and Aughinish in Limerick. The ferry link between Tarbert and Kilimer in Co Clare affords visitors the opportunity to remain close to the coast and experience the unique communities that live there. Elsewhere fishing and tourism activities occur at a relatively large number of smaller harbours and piers along the entire coastline. In Kerry piers and harbours with three or more vessels fishing on a seasonal basis include; Ballyheigue and to the north Cashen and Meenagahane followed by Fenit to the south which is the centre of the native oyster fishing. At the Maharees (Scaggane pier) there is a significant fleet of <12m vessels, some of which fish all year round. Brandon and Ballydavid are still active although they have been badly affected by the ban on mixed stock fishing for salmon. Ard na Caithne also serves the fishermen in Smerwick Harbour. Dún Chaoin, although affording no protection in swell or weather does serve fishing vessels seasonally. Ventry harbour has two piers – Ventry and Cuan which serve fishing vessels. Outside of Dingle Harbour, Dingle Bay is served by piers/slips on a seasonal basis in Minard and Kells Bay while The Point at Cromane is year round focal point for both fishing and aquaculture activity. The area south of Cahersiveen supports a strong potting fleet, the focal piers for which are Portmagee, Cahersiveen and Knighstown. Further south along the coast and around to the Cork border numerous small piers and slips dot the coastline, the foremost among them are Ballinskelligs, Bunawalla and Westcove with fishing vessels and several leisure craft; Oysterbed Pier outside of Sneem is used for lobster shrimp and mussel aquaculture; Tahilla and Blackwater serve a few of the inner Kenmare River fishers and much aquaculture, The south side of the Kenmare River is served by a number of small landing places between Tuosist and Kilmacilogue harbour. The prevalence of small vessel means that there are a variety of smaller informal though traditional landing places used particularly for shrimp and lobster fisheries. In terms of pot fisheries there is a substantial dependence on this method of fishing particularly among smaller vessel <12 meter. Broadly prosecuted pot fisheries for Lobster feature all along the Kerry coastline. The brown Crab pot fishery is a valuable fishery with high dependency from north Kerry -Tralee Bay south to Kenmare Bay. The Shrimp pot fishery is particularly significant in the South West; Valentia Harbour into Dingle Bay, Kenmare River. Spider crab is significant top entry pot fishery in north Kerry – Tralee Bay with seasonal fisheries in other areas. There is also a significant crayfish bycatch to the top entry pot spider crab fishery. A limited Nephrops pot fishery exists in Kenmare River. There is a green crab fishery around Cromane which is often associated with shellfish production areas and the Velvet crab pot fishery is ubiquitous but not heavily exploited. There is an intermittent Whelk pot fishery with small fisheries in Kenmare River and in Tralee bay. Tangle-netting is practised through the Kerry coast mainly targeting Crayfish.